You might be among the many women asking yourself this question. Why should I eat my placenta? Eating your placenta also known as placentophagy offers numerous benefits. The placenta is rich in nutrients and natural hormones that help you recover more smoothly after birth.

There are many ways in which you can eat your placenta. It can be encapsulated, eaten raw or cooked.

You should consume your placenta within 3 days, or if it is frozen (double-bagged to prevent freezer burn), 6 months.

Eating raw placenta. Many women prefer this method since the nutrients are not lost due to cooking. Raw placenta is prized for its rich iron supplies as well.

You can make a placenta smoothie, or just cut a few pieces off it with a knife and eat. In the latter case, you will not eat the whole placenta in one day, but rather over a period of a few days.

Placenta Smoothie. There are many placenta recipes out there. The ingredients mostly include your choice of fruit, like bananas, strawberries, blueberries, etc., vegetables such as spinach, nut butter of your choice and some amount of a placenta, of course. The amount of placenta varies from an inch sized piece to about a cup of cubed placenta. Also, just add some milk (dairy or not), or fruit juice, or water, a few ice cubes and a little bit of natural sweetener if you so desire. Some people recommend blending a placenta with vegetable juice blend such as V8 to avoid funny taste or texture. Here is a sample recipe:

Placenta Smoothie Recipe

2 cups of frozen strawberries

1 banana

4 to 5 ice cubes

2 cups of organic berry juice or nut milk

1 cup of cubed placenta meat

1 table spoon of honey or maple syrup

Blend the frozen berries and the banana first, then add ice cubes, juice and honey. Blend in the placenta at the end. The whole placenta will yield about 4 smoothies in which you can consume one a day.

Here is a new mom’s version of the placenta smoothie:

Cooking placenta. There are many placenta recipes. Many people saute it like liver, make lasagna, stew, pizza, spaghetti, roast or even a sandwich. In these recipes, placenta mostly replaces beef or liver.